Women and media at China's 18th Communist Party congress

BEIJING – China’s leaders are often thought of as men with near-identical suits and hairdos. But among the 2,268 delegates to the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, there are 521 women.

So how are they contributing to this much-touted national gathering, which will culminate Thursday with the unveiling of a new generation of senior officials?

Judging from the Chinese press, one primary contribution is their looks. On Friday, the People’s Daily website published a 14-photo slide show labeled “Beautiful Scenery from the 18th Party Congress.”

The slides featured female delegates, many of them ethnic minorities in exotic garb and towering hair ornaments. Also included were female reporters and groups of women known as “ritual” girls in pink and red coats, who are tasked with escorting delegates and others attending the congress.

“Beautiful ritual girls, female reporters and delegates to the party congress become beautiful scenery during the 18th national congress of the Communist Party of China,” the caption read.

Meanwhile, a story in the Beijing News on Li Li, a delegate from Beijing, described her as “the most beautiful female judge.” The People’s Daily wrote about “the most beautiful mom” delegate -- Wu Juping, who became a celebrity after catching a child who had fallen from a building -- and “the most beautiful female teacher” delegate, Zhang Lili, who became a media star after losing her legs in a traffic accident trying to save some children.

There were no comparable stories about the most handsome male delegates.

Of course, female delegates are capable of doing more than just beautifying the Great Hall of the People. The state-run New China News Agency ran a story Monday headlined “Mom communists taking babies to national congress.” The piece remarked upon how Jiang Min, a police officer from Sichuan province, and Luo Wei, a beverage company worker also from Sichuan, had brought their infants to the capital and were breastfeeding between sessions.

“After the congress opened on Thursday, they fed the babies before the meetings in the morning and at midday breaks, and handed over the babies to family members before rushing to the meetings in the afternoon to vote or discuss with other delegates,” the reporters noted.

A visit to Jiang’s hotel room revealed that it was “full of documents and newspapers, along with her son's clothes, shoes and toys. Behind the curtains, diapers were on the guardrail.”

No word on whether any recent dads were among the delegates.

Some outlets like the All-China Women’s Federation are at least publishing articles detailing what female delegates see as key issues for the country, including cultural development and healthcare.

The female delegates hold a wide variety of occupations, including TV news anchor, calligrapher, singer, member of the military and factory worker. The 521 female delegates to this congress represent an increase of 76 from the last such event, held in 2007.

“This increase in numbers shows that the party pays great attention to female party members, and it’s proof that women’s participation in politics has grown,” said Chen Zhili, president of the state-run All-China Women’s Federation, in remarks published in the China Women’s Newspaper.

But higher up the party ranks, the percentage of women dwindles. On the outgoing Central Committee (a new one will be chosen Wednesday), only 13 of the 204 members were women. In the outgoing Politburo, there is just one woman, Liu Yandong, who is only the fifth woman to reach the Politburo.

Before the congress, Liu, a chemical engineer by training, was touted as a possible candidate for elevation to the Politburo Standing Committee, the select group of seven or nine top officials who essentially govern China.

But many analysts regard her as an extreme long shot to crack China’s political glass ceiling. In projections of the Standing Committee lineup compiled by the New York Times, the Economist, Reuters, South China Morning Post, Financial Times and the overseas Chinese-language news site Duowei, Liu’s name does not appear even once.